Meg and the New Beginning
by beautiful imperfections
Summary: Years passed and Boots doesn't remember the Underland. She knows something went wrong in New York that destroyed her family but it's a mystery to her. A strange boy shows and she's pulled back into the Underland. What ruined her family once might save it.


Meg moved slowly through the school yard, mumbling quietly to herself. She had a test next period in history and of course she hadn't studied. There must be a better way to remember what year each American colony had entered the Union.

"You're doing it again," a hot breath whispered into her ear.

Meg's head shot up and glared at the boy standing next to her. Why couldn't he leave her alone like everyone else at this blasted school? She didn't want to be here anymore than her peers wanted her here. She was a outsider yet Alex Davidson couldn't leave it at that.

"Doing what?" she snapped, stopping. Her hands came to her hips and she frowned at the way too cute boy.

Alex grinned at her. "Making those weird clicking noises."

"I was not," she protested, honestly confused why he kept saying that. Alex must be half deaf, she concluded. Whenever she was talking out loud to herself, he told her that. No one else mentioned anything.

"You sound like a bug," he went on. "Everyone hears it. They're all too afraid to say anything. They think you're half cricket or something." He laughed. "Of course I know you're not. Though I do think you sound like a tick. It's cool."

Did ticks make noise? Meg wasn't sure. She knew cockroaches did, but ticks seemed like a small creature to be making any kind of sound. _Tick. _For some reason that word made her heart hurt. She blinked to keep from crying.

"Leave me alone," she pushed passed him, frustrated when the tardy bell rang and she found herself late for her class.

* * *

"Gregor," Meg said, entering her brother's small apartment. At twenty-one, Gregor had just moved out their dad's small house. Since both of their parents worked until late and their sixteen year old sister, Lizzy, was never around, after school Meg hung out with Gregor.

"Hey, Boots," he said, using her old nickname for her. She hated it but Gregor for some reason insisted on calling her that. It was a name for a baby and at eleven years old, she was on the brink of being a teenager.

"How was school?" Gregor asked lamely flopping onto his couch. It was his only piece of furniture in the whole room except for a small TV that sat on the window sill.

She didn't answer. Dropping her book bag on the floor, she moved into the kitchen. She could hear Gregor sigh as she mulled around in the fridge. For as long as she could remember her family had been falling to pieces, even before their parents had gotten a divorce. Something had happened, something she couldn't remember, that had made it that way. Especially for Lizzy and Gregor. It had something to do with the fact that they had moved to Virginia.

Gregor had been doing better lately. Apparently he had noticed that her and Lizzy were "going off the deep end" and was trying to help.

_I'm fine,_ Meg thought as she pulled out a can of root beer. _It's Lizzy who's trouble. _Her sister had one too many boyfriends and was constantly arriving home drunk. Meg was a loner, just like Gregor, but she didn't mind. She'd rather find cockroaches to play with than snotty middle schoolers.

Meg sat down at the card table that was acting as the dining room table and drank her pop. The cool liquid felt good in the hot September sun. She was just about to get up and throw away the can when Gregor sat down next to her.

"You miss Temp, don't you?"

Meg froze, hearing another word that made her feel the same way as Tick did. "Wh-what do you mean? Who's Temp?"

Gregor looked sad. "I thought you'd remember. I figured you never talked about it because you were sad. You don't remember anything from New York, do you?"

Meg frowned. "No, I don't. I was only two. Who's Temp?" she repeated.

Gregor smiled sadly, looking at her. "A crawler. Like Tick was."

_**AN: **__**Thanks for reading. I hope you've enjoyed it so far. But I haven't read the underland books for a while so I need some help from you guys. **_

_**Is Tick a boy or girl?  
**_

_**Is Temp a boy or girl?  
**_

_**Did they originally live in New York? I can't remember. And were they moving to Virginia? Did I get that right? **_

_**I don't know if it ever said what Boots real name was but in another fanfic it said Meg, so I assumed it was that. Any info would be lovely.**_

_**How old's Hazard? **_

_**If I get any info wrong, please correct me. Thanks, review!  
**_


End file.
